Personal Robots

The Robots are Coming! Finally Fulfilling Our Childhood Fantasies, Robot Servants and Companions Begin Arriving. By Jonathan Silverstein. ABC News. "[I]n a move that will certainly redeem the scientific community, leaps and bounds are being made in the world of domestic robots. ... Whether you realize it or not, robots are everywhere. They build the cars that we drive and the computers we work on, they fight terrorists overseas and dispose of bombs, placing their own metal frames at risk while humans watch safely from a distance. Though robots have long had a place in manufacturing and the military, they've only just begun creeping into our homes to play maid, gardener and pool boy. ... In a world where robots have long been more fantasy than fact, it's not hard to understand why researchers and engineers sometimes reach deep into their childhood for inspiration. ... Though their help and companionship may be welcomed by some, at least one question remains: with researchers developing robots to do our mundane, time-consuming tasks and chores, what are we going to do with all that extra time?"